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A53
world
Thursday, June 13, 2013 www.guardian.co.tt Guardian
MAIDUGURI---Young men armed
with machetes and sticks have entered
the streets of Nigeria s biggest city in
the northeast to target suspected
Islamic extremists, even as soldiers
continued an offensive against the
radical fighters.
The vigilante group, known as
"Civilian JTF," a play off the acronym
used to describe the joint military and
police taskforce in the region, started
taking up arms after President Good-
luck Jonathan declared a state of emer-
gency May 14 in Adamawa, Borno and
Yobe states---a territory of around
60,000 square miles)of the Sahel bor-
dering Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
In a nationally televised speech,
Jonathan admitted the nation had lost
control of some villages and towns to
extremist fighters already responsible
for more than 1,600 killings since 2010
alone, according to an Associated Press
count.
In the time since, the military claims
it has killed and arrested suspected
extremists as it now controls security
for the region with expanded powers
to arrest anyone and occupy any build-
ing. However, military officials who
spoke to journalists on a recent trip
through the northeast acknowledged
many fighters likely fled with heavy
weaponry including anti-aircraft guns
and still remain a major threat to
Africa s most populous nation.
The members of Civilian JTF have
now come under attack from extremists
for pointing out suspects to soldiers.
An AP reporter met a group of the
young men belonging to the vigilantes
recently in the streets of Maiduguri,
the capital of Borno state and the spir-
itual home of the extremist network
Boko Haram. The men ranged in age
from 17 to 25 and carried machetes,
iron bars and batons to protect them-
selves.
The men said they formed their own
patrols after becoming tired of soldiers
routinely rounding up any young man
found in a neighbourhood after an
extremist attack in the city. Soldiers
in Nigeria s military, drawn from across
the more than 250 ethnicities in the
nation, can have difficulties speaking
local languages and understanding cus-
toms in regions far from their home.
The young men said their local knowl-
edge helps the soldiers do their job
better.
"We are into this to salvage our peo-
ple from the Boko Haram who had
killed our people, security operatives
and destroyed our economy," vigilante
Isa Musa said. "We are not afraid of
them because we are doing a just cause
and God is by our side."
Musa said the vigilantes didn t fear
the extremists, even though their fight-
ers carry Kalashnikov assault rifles and
other sophisticated weaponry.
"All we want is prayers from the
people and their cooperation. We are
working together with the JTF soldiers,"
he said. "We want government to assist
us with more weapons like cutlasses,
iron batons and axes."
It s not clear whether these civilian
groups receive either the passive
acceptance or the endorsement of the
military now securing Maiduguri,
though it would appear likely as soldiers
seem to allow their movement in a city
filled with sandbagged roadblocks.
(AP)
Vigilantes target
extremists in
northeast Nigeria
Vigilante youths pose for a photograph in
Maiduguri, Nigeria. AP PHOTO